process for producing fermentable sugars from whole biomass, process for producing fermentable sugars from sugar cane or whole energy cane and process for producing fermentable sugars from whole corn

摘要

process for producing fermentable sugars from whole biomass, process for producing fermentable sugars from cane or whole energy cane and process for producing fermentable sugars from whole corn The invention provides processes for producing fermentable sugars from whole biomass including cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, and non-lignocellulosic sugars. Some variations fractionate the whole raw material in the presence of sulfur dioxide, a solvent for lignin, and water, to produce a liquor containing hemicellulose, cellulose-rich solids, lignin, and non-lignocellulosic sugars. upon removal of the cellulose rich solids from the liquor, hemicellulose is hydrolyzed to hemicellulosic monomers; cellulose rich solids are hydrolyzed to glucose; and hemicellulosic monomers, glucose, and non-lignocellulosic sugars are all recovered (separately or in combination) as fermentable sugars. The whole biomass raw material can be selected from sugar cane, energy cane, corn, wheat, rice, beet sugar, beet energy etc. Typical non-lignocellulosic sugars are sucrose or starch, which can be converted to monomeric sugars during initial fractionation. The invention provides a convenient biorefinery system, avoiding costly logistics associated with the separation of agricultural waste at harvest or after transport. 1/1